lava
lava [lava lavas] BrE [ˈlɑːvə] NAmE [ˈlɑːvə] noun uncountable
1. hot liquid rock that comes out of a ↑volcano
•molten lava
2. this type of rock when it has cooled and become hard
Word Origin:
mid 18th cent.: from Italian (Neapolitan dialect), denoting the lava stream from Vesuvius (an active volcano near Naples in Italy), but originally denoting a stream caused by sudden rain, from lavare ‘to wash’, from Latin.
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